Zoey giggled, “It’s me!” while Logan shook his head and said, “You had me fooled!”
They wished Logan luck and carried on to watch Brodie, Maeve again reminded what it meant to have all that family around for Zoey, all that support. To know that she wasn’t quite so alone anymore.
She wondered momentarily what it would be like to be part of it herself, if her and Brodie were together. But she shut that thought down right away. Especially when she saw him up on stage.
Brodie was a natural. Putting nervous contestants at ease and cracking jokes when the animals did something unexpected. The audience loved him. He’d dressed up for the role, wore navy pants and a tie, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up to his elbow, his hair slicked to the side like some old-fashioned movie star.
Zoey said, “He looks so handsome.”
Maeve could only agree. He was totally out of her league. Jetting off to Vegas! She rolled her eyes. Her life was so pitifully small-town in comparison.
When he saw them, he smiled and raised a hand in greeting, without even pausing his commentary.
Maeve leaned on the railing that surrounded the ring and watched him in his element. Unfazed by the attention, effortlessly self-assured, he had the adoring crowd in the palm of his hand. He was just so charismatic, it was hard to look away.
When it came to the kids’ costume parade, Brodie was very professional—Zoey didn’t get any special treatment—but Maeve didn’t miss the little wink he threw her as she waddled past where he was standing with the mic. The tenderness made her heart lurch.
She was insomuch trouble.
The judges placed Zoey third, which she was very happy with because usually she didn’t come anywhere close. She went and got changed but kept her rosette pinned to her T-shirt. After the Pee Wee Rabbit Showmanship, Maeve suggested they go and look at the craft and food stalls and go on the carnival rides, just to get away from the fluttering longing in her chest when she watched Brodie on stage. The mortifying termstarstruck fancame to mind again.
Zoey, however, just wanted to be where Brodie was. After Maeve had tried to distract her with carnival rides and cake, they headed straight back to the main arena. The fencing for the events had been removed and everyone was milling around now in front of the stage. Ren was there with Noah, who had a first-place rosette for roping tucked into his shirt pocket. When he saw Zoey he said, “You see your Grandma Carter up there?” and pointed to where the Autumn Falls band were warming up on stage. Martha tuning up her Dobro guitar. One of Maeve’s friends, Claudette, who worked with Bella at the theater, was on vocals, dressed in a gold mini dress, the sequins catching the light like a disco ball. She was trying to coax Brodie to join her. But he just grinned into the mic and said, “I’m here to dance not sing.”
Claudette threw up her hands in good-natured disappointment.
Maeve found herself wondering if there had ever been anything between the pair of them, they had sung together a couple of times at town events. Was she jealous? She quickly berated herself for even thinking about it. Who Brodie chose to fraternize with was none of her business.
John-Luke, Bella’s stepfather and leader of the band, gave Brodie the nod that they were about to begin, and Brodie called out, “Grab your partners, people. There’s dancing to be done!”
Ren immediately pulled a very reluctant Noah onto what was now a dance floor, flashing with colorful spotlights from the stage, along with lots of other familiar faces from town. Zoey ran to join some of her schoolfriends who had made a little group at the front.
On the mic, Brodie scanned the crowd and said, “Now, I just need to find myself a partner.” His eyes found Maeve and that familiar crooked grin started to spread on his face.
Maeve shook her head.
Brodie’s smile only got wider. He raised his brows.
She couldn’t do this. She wasn’t the practiced flirt he was. She did things seriously, sensibly, things meant things when she did them. He, however, was the master of easy fun. She shook her head again, trying to convey absolute finality by crossing her arms as well.
Brodie seemed to take the hint and his gaze traveled further across the crowd, landing eventually on a tiny woman with a white bun, wearing a long floral dress. “How about it, Mrs. Hernandez?”
“Oh, you don’t want to dance with me, Brodie Carter,” she called out, waving away the offer. “Dance with someone your own age.”
Brodie shrugged, feigning dejection and said, “I’m trying to dance with Maeve Dixon but she won’t have me.”
All eyes turned to find Maeve at the edge of the crowd. She felt her face go beacon-red. “Oh, no, not me, I don’t dance.” She glared at Brodie who just grinned wider.
Mrs. Hernandez called, “Go on, dance with Brodie, Maeve! My knee is not up to it.”
Maeve held up a hand to protest.
“I don’t dance, either,” Noah shouted, from where he was being forced into it by Ren, “And look at me!”
“Have some fun, Doctor Dixon!” someone shouted. Maeve looked and saw Old Mr. Zimmerman, whose life she’d saved from a heart attack over New Year. “If anyone deserves some fun, it’s you, darlin’!”
Brodie stood there innocently up on stage, head cocked in increasingly smug amusement as Maeve came under pressure from the townsfolk—all desperate for their hard-working doctor to enjoy herself.
“Go on, Mom!” Zoey shouted. And the whole place seemed to smile indulgently.
